I Dare Ya (Post 2): Closer

How's everybody doing? This week, I'm not going to play around. It's all business. The reason that I'm going to be that way this week is because we are talking about one of the most important things to being a Rebel. That would be your relationship with our Savior. If you have any intention of not conforming to the patterns of this world, then the first thing you have to do is get serious about your faith. Exactly one year ago, I had just begun to get closer to Christ. I told the youth group at Eastland the other day that April 21, 2009 was the most pivotal day of my life. On April 20th my longtime girlfriend broke up with me, and a bunch of other stuff was going on. It was extremely rough on me, so on April 21st I spent a majority of the day feeling bad for myself. Having been through a prolonged period of self pity not long before, I decided that I didn't want to do it anymore. That was the night I decided I needed to make a change, and it was the best decision of my life. Had I not made the decision to give all my struggles, pain, and my entire life over to Christ...I wouldn't even be sitting here typing right now. I wouldn't have the amazing friends I have right now. I wouldn't have the opportunities that I have, and my entire life would be different. This is why this means so much to me, and why I feel that this is something that I had to write about. There's never been any other decision that I have made or will make that will ever compare to my choice of getting to know my Savior better.
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So this week, is all about daring you to get closer to God. I want to encourage you to do whatever it takes inorder to move towards a strong relationship with Christ. There are many reasons why it's hard for teens to accept Christ. People see God as judgemental, and think that He only exists to call them out when they do wrong. However, that's not the case. Most people know John 3:16 which says, "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life." I found it interesting though that my pastor pointed out John 3:17 which says, "For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him." God will call us out sometimes, because we sometimes deserve it. However, He loves us and his goal is not to condemn the world, but to save it.
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There are many other reasons. For instance, it may be the man screaming on a bullhorn with a shirt that says, "YOU ARE ALL GOING TO BURN!" on a college campus. It may be the Westboro Baptist Church who protests military funerals (Which is absolutely sickening). They may see Christians as hypocritical. They may be turned off by extremly political churches. They may not want to put in the effort. They may feel like they don't need Christ's help. For me, it was the fact that I felt it would change my life in a negative way. I thought that it would restrict my life, and make it boring. All I saw the "rules" (see where it ties in?), and the "rules" of Christianity scared me to say the least. This is what alot of people feel. What many people see is the parties, the "friends," the "college experience," the drugs, the lack of having to answer to God, and they feel that life would be boring with Christ. Well, I've come to find the opposite. Giving everything I have to Christ has really opened up a whole new world to me. Living the lifestyle of a rebel is like having a new adventure everyday. When you give up your life to Christ, and you fully trust him...it's exciting to see what he has in store for you next. Which brings me to my next point...
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Giving up your life to Christ can seem scary. As I've said several times on here, it seems ridiculous to give somebody else control. It's like picking up a hitchhiker and letting him drive your car, it just seems stupid. The whole idea opens up more ways for you to want to back out of it.
What if God wants me to go spend 5 years in Guatemala? I really couldn't leave my family behind, and I don't like their food. What if God wants me to be a youth pastor? I really don't like kids, and I can't think of cool stuff to do every week! What if God asks me to tell my friends about His love? There's no way I could do that. They would think I'm weird!
It's a natural reaction. However, God has a specific plan for each one of us. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says, For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." God has a plan. His plan is one that will make us grow spirtiually as well has a plan to give us "hope and a future." Sounds good doesn't it? Well, that's not all there is to it. If we want to find the path that God has for us, we must become closer to him. Jeremiah 29:12-13 it says, "Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart." We have to get closer to God in order to be rebellious. We have to seek Him with ALL our heart. We need to go above and beyond what we normally do, so that we can really tap into God's will for our lives. Also, don't worry about God forcing you to do something you hate. In Psalm 37:4 it says, "Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." God knows what you long for, and He will use that for His good. He wants you to be happy. You just have to trust him!
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Jesus really wants to be our best friend. He wants to be the one that we run to in the lowest of lows, and the first one that we thank at the highest of highs. He always wants to be there for us, and He never wants to leave. That's why he died on the cross. That's why he gave up everything that He had on earth...for you. So, that's why we should give up everything to Him. He wants us to trust him completely. So, how do we form that kind of reltionship?
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There's alot of ways to grow closer to Christ. Of course, you can always pray more. This is my favorite. If you are ever at the gym, on a long drive, or just sitting around and you have something on your mind...just tell God. He's always listening! Whenever I am having a rough day, I always find it helpful to immediately tell God. You can find good books to read (My favorite is The Barbarian Way by Erwin Raphael McManus). You can find a devotional book, and just spend time praying and focusing on the lesson. Reading your Bible is a must. You can read through it book by book, you can flip to a random chapter, or you could even go back and read your favorite verses. You could also start a prayer journal. This is where you will see the most growth. All you have to do is sit down in the quiet, get a pen and paper, and just write. Talk about prayer requests, what happened in the day, thoughts, song lyrics, verses, basically anything you want. Over time you will begin to look back at these and realize just how far you've come, and how much you have changed. You can look back at the hardest times in your life, and see how God pulled you through it. These are just some of the things that have been helpful to me, and if there's anything you like to do that I didn't mention...let us know in the comments!
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This is a very broad overview. It is by no means an end all, be all story of how you should grow closer to God. I encourage you to atleast start by praying as often as possible, and just see what God leads you to do. If you want to talk about it more I would be more than happy to answer emails, facebook messages, or talk about it in person. You can also leave comments in the comment section. Whatever is neccessary! Just know that God is always waiting to listen, to comfort, to teach, and to be your best friend. I dare you to go closer! I DARE YA!
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Thanks for reading! I hope that if you liked this post, that you will go and explore the archives. Also, feel free to leave comments. It makes this so much more fun! For all the regular readers, thank you so much! To everybody who has read a post, you all mean alot to me and it makes me happy to hear what you all think. If you want to talk more about this post then just email me at whocanstopus@gmail.com, or simply add me on facebook! I would be more than happy to talk to you all!

I would also like to thank my family for putting on an awesome cookout for me and some of my friends tonight! It was alot of fun! I would like to thank the Eastland Youth for letting me come and be apart of their Wednesday nights! Finally, I would like to thank Sent by Ravens for their awesome music, and summer for getting closer and closer! Have a great weekend...I'll see you Monday!